Hair and Headwear

I'm a hat junkie.  I have an obsession with what people wore in the past, yes, but gorgeous hats are a major part of that obsession.  And I've been thinking about what I'm going to do for a topper, so to speak, for this project.  So... let me share my thoughts and ideas.

I think I may have mentioned in my last post that I ordered some more fabric today.  It's payday, and I had some things in my cart at Farmhouse Fabrics that I wanted to complete so that I can get them soon.  Many things to work on!!  I ordered some lovely, almost sheer cottons with which to make a kerchief and a cap, as well as silk for my bonnet.  I wanted to do an entire bonnet on a buckram frame, wired properly, then fulled and covered with silk.  However, time tells me that would be a bit more work than I have time for.  So... I'm going to do a straw and fabric bonnet.  These were common, and are easy to make.  Some examples:

A gorgeous vintage bonnet.

Silk-covered vintage bonnet.  I wanted to do something like this (stovepipe hat).

Gorgeous brown silk and velvet bonnet from the time period.

This is a French bonnet from a museum exhibit.

Another beauty, this one in straw with fancy ribbon as the decoration.

I also have saved pictures from the time period--fashion plates that were published in magazines for women to show them the latest styles.

 

 

 

Some of these illustrations include day caps, which I discussed in my last post.  I am more partial to a stovepipe shaped hat (kind of straight-sided, flat topped hat with a bonnet brim), but I may have to do a hat with a straw brim and a poufed fabric crown.  Some reproduction hats here:

 


I am more partial to the one on the right, but I don't like how short the brim is.  However, in the 1810s, smaller brims were often used.  

I do have another option:  The turban.  Turbans were not the kind that Sikhs or people in the middle east might wear... they were sort of like a poofy or carefully draped beret.  Some even had solid bases with draped fabric tacked down in strategic places.  Either way, most turbans were stitched into shape, and were not wound around the head.  Some examples:

This one looks a bit like a scary mushroom... not my style. And so... yellow!  Yellow was a popular color for evening wear (this is definitely a silk organza weave, fancy, for evening), as it was considered quite pretty in candlelight.

I love this one, but it's for evening wear, and made for 

the Empress Josephine.  I hope that's not real hair... 

makes me feel itchy just thinking about it!

Absolutely gorgeous, but my hair won't do that.

 


Sooo… no shroom caps for me!  Another factor is my hair.  As I said in my previous post, curls were the thing, with some exceptions.  I have a board on Pinterest that is all about Regency stuff (interested?  Click here), which I've broken into sub-sections for different things, like shoes, original garments, and one for hair.  Here are some examples of common hairstyles for the time:

Evening hairstyle

Short hairstyle, sporting the popular windswept style.

(is it just me, or does her head seem way too big for her body?)

modern example of Regency hairstyle

 
Two examples of short hairstyles.

This lady is rocking a turban.  She has also dressed rather exotically.  There was a fad for Indian-like "artistic" styles.

Not everybody wore curls.  This portrait shows a beautiful young woman with her hair in a simple, smooth style, and wearing a chemisette over her dress, which was another way of wearing them.  I think she'd fit right in these days, apart from the clothing.

So... I plan to put my hair up in back (somehow), wear curls around my face, wear a cap, and a silk and straw bonnet.  I have a finely woven straw hat I bought in Williamsburg many years ago that I think I can sacrifice for the cause (instead of buying one to cut up--the nicer ones are about $20).  I've ordered two lovely silks for a bonnet--both were remnants and on sale, so, a steal at less than 10 bucks each!  One is a soft rosy taupe, and the other is a gold and rose iridescent weave.  Leftover materials go to my doll clothing stash.  :)  

Now to get working.  Sort of.  

My work table is completely covered in beads, bottles of beads, bags of beads, beading tools, supplies, a couple of bead mats, a new pair of scissors, a special box for holding small beads (Christmas gift from my Mother-In-Law), and two rolls of duct tape.  Oh, and plain Christmas ornaments that I meant to bead as gifts, but ran out of time.  Gotta put those back in my closet for next year.  When I get that all cleaned up, then I can get started on actually sewing!  

I can't believe it's getting dark already (4:23 pm).  My husband is making a pecan pie (we didn't have time to do it at Christmas, so now it's a New Year's pie).  We are going to have our traditional New Year's Eve dinner:  fondue!  I forget when we started it... it was in the early years of our marriage, and has now become tradition.  I went to Freddy's this morning and got some Emmenthaler swiss, crusty breads (Mediterranean olive and a French baguette), a granny smith apple, and a few other things for meals for the next few days.  I think we'll while away the evening hours by playing Harry Potter Trivial Pursuit (family gift from Santa) with Ella, or playing some other game.  We also have a Sherlock Holmes puzzle we could do, too.  It's just the three of us tonight (my dad and niece went to Montana for my cousin's wedding, which is tomorrow), so we'll do something fun together.  I'm not sure if Ella will make it to midnight, but she's planning to try!

Well, see you next year!!

Christmas update

I couldn't sleep tonight, even though I am physically tired.  My brain was running all kinds of stuff through my head, and I couldn't get it to settle.  So, I figured I'd do a quickie update and maybe a little research to get my brain off my mental treadmill.

My husband has always been very supportive of my creative pursuits, and Christmas was no exception.  The one thing I really wanted this year was a dress form.  In order to really be able to sew for myself, I have to be able to accurately fit the clothing to my body, which is really difficult to do when you have to try it on yourself and figure out the fitting while it is on you.  It's one reason why, even though I'm a seamstress, I've never really made myself clothes.  Or, at least, not since I was in my 20s.

This is the form.  I will need to customize it, of course.  It also has a stand.  

This is the pic from Amazon... it's still in it's box behind me as I type...

My husband was clever about it.  I would've known what it was if I saw a ginormous box next to the tree (Ok, maybe a little exaggeration), so he hid it from me.  He wrapped it in an exceptionally large bag he bought specifically for the purpose, and tucked it into a corner of the dining room (which, right now, is kind of a "no man's land" of storage... Rob has been storing survival foods and military rations in there, and there is a lot of my mom's stuff in there, as well.  More on the rations later...).  After all the presents were unwrapped, he got up and went towards the dining room, quoting "A Christmas Story"... "Hey, what's that box in the corner?"  I jokingly asked if it was a gun (in this house, it is a distinct possibility).  He then proceeded to bring it out and plant it in front of me.  I was very surprised and pleased.  He knows me pretty well!  And it was on my Amazon list.  :)

My dad came out from Idaho to stay with us for Christmas, and then he and Millie will fly out to the boondocks of Montana to attend my cousin's wedding on the 1st.  They will fly back later, and then he'll go back to Idaho.  My nephew and his girlfriend came for Christmas as well.  They live just outside of Anacortes, as they both work at the Naval base there.  For once, they both had Christmas off.  I made a ton of cookies and other goodies, and my husband did a bit of cooking as well, making fudge, Chex Mix, homemade rolls, quiche, etc.  We worked our butts off to get the house ready for guests, and it was worth it.  My kitchen is clean, things are put away, and the living room is clutter-free.  Well, right now there are a bunch of opened gifts in piles, but those things can be moved.  It was nice to be with loved ones, even though we were one short this year.

Ella fared the best this Christmas, and got all kinds of stuff she wanted and loved, and several things she was not expecting.  I got new speakers for my computer (because mine are ancient and terrible), so now I'll finally be able to listen to things on my computer without hearing static and buzzing!  Woot!  My husband also got me an Instant Pot--something I've been thinking about getting, but balking because of the price for a good one, and because I'm not sure where to store it, nor how to use it.  But... I get to look for recipes on Pinterest, and that's half the fun.

Oh--the military rations...  My husband has been watching YouTube videos of people who buy military rations from all over the place and then eat them and evaluate them.  Apparently, it's quite entertaining.  Anyway, it inspired him to try some, too.  So he has been buying MREs from all around the world:  England, Australia, France, Eastern Europe, Russia, etc.  He will sometimes have one or two for lunch on the weekends, frequently including Ella.  She always wants the sweet things, but does try different foods, which is kind of nice, as she's not normally very adventurous when it comes to food.  I swear, this kid is made of Ranch, nuggets, peanut butter, and Goldfish crackers!  Even I try some of it, although nothing too old (some of these are rations from a few decades ago...).  I liked the biscuits/cookies in some English rations, and so did Rob, so he bought a small case of them.  They are excellent with tea, and are very popular, especially in England.  This, of course, makes them expensive.  So I don't eat them often!  When they arrive, I tell him he's OOC (out of control)… it's his current obsession.

Ok, well... this post is longer than I planned.  I hope you all had a great Christmas, filled with family, special treats/food, and fun.